Lawman subject of profile

Robert Silva, a Pueblo West resident, has profiled his great-grandfather in “Lead in Trinidad: The Life and Legacy of Lawman Lewis M. Kreeger.”

He writes that Kreeger rode with William Quantrill and his raiders in support of the Confederacy before coming West and moving to Trinidad from Taos, N.M., in 1867. He became a constable under Sheriff Juan Tafoya in 1871 and his law enforcement career in Trinidad stretched for four decades and included the positions of sheriff, marshal, policeman and detective. He tracked cattle rustlers, train robbers, payroll thieves and murderers. He killed at least five men.

Kreeger was known for his fearlessness and the cool demeanor that kept him alive during many gunfights, according to Silva.

One of the stories Silva tells describes the rivalry that existed between lawman Kreeger and William Barclay “Bat” Masterson, Trinidad’s city marshal in 1882, as to who was fastest on the draw. The matter was settled in a friendly quick-draw contest when Kreeger drew first, according to a local newspaper account published decades later. In 1883, Kreeger was elected city marshal by Trinidad residents and Masterson moved on.

Kreeger died Aug. 3, 1913. In his obituary, The Chronicle News called him “the most noted man-hunter in the Southwest and most widely known officer in Southern Colorado.”

Silva will talk about his book and sign copies during a program at 6 p.m. Sept. 11 at Robert Hoag Rawlings Public Library, 100 E. Abriendo Ave.